Who is No. 1 pick in new 2026 NBA mock draft? AI predicts first round
[ad_1]
The clock is ticking for potential 2026 NBA draft prospects. The early entry deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is Friday, April 24 and the draft lottery to determine the exact order of picks is less than a month away.
Most of the top players have already made their decisions known, although several have elected to enter college basketball’s transfer portal and test the NBA draft waters to keep their options open within the NIL landscape. But artificial intelligence, like the various mock draft experts around the country, can already predict how the first round of this loaded draft class stacks up.
Advertisement
USA TODAY Sports once again queried the Microsoft Copilot chatbot for its version of a 2026 NBA mock draft based on information and analysis currently available on the internet, and it continued to have BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson of Kansas and Duke’s Cameron Boozer as the top-three picks. But the order was slightly different than the most recent USA TODAY Sports NBA mock draft, and selections varied even more further down the draft order.
How the order settles is likely to depend on the pre-draft process if the current variety in mock drafts are to be believed. Here’s Microsoft Copilot’s latest 2026 NBA mock draft, as curated by USA TODAY Sports:
[ad_2]
